RE: Lost Cinema's of Brum - 6

Thanks for posting the photos Phil. I am from just up the road from the sheldon cinema , born and bred in Gilbertstone avenue, but attended infant and junior school in Horse shoes lane just opposite the cinema. Does anyone remember the park just across from the cinema with the stream running through it. A tunnel could be entered at the bottom of Lyndon playing fields and if you had enough nerve ,a good torch and a healthy sense of adventure you could walk down the edges of the tunnel and come out in opposite the cinema. Happy days indeed.

Hi JK1

I'm afraid that I don't really remember the Sheldon Cinema much myself, never having used it. I do know the park you are talking about though, my mate who lives in Horse Shoes Lane his bungalow backs on to it.

Phil

Posted by jk1

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Thanks for posting the photos Phil. I am from just up the road from the sheldon cinema , born and bred in Gilbertstone avenue, but attended infant and junior school in Horse shoes lane just opposite the cinema. Does anyone remember the park just across from the cinema with the stream running through it. A tunnel could be entered at the bottom of Lyndon playing fields and if you had enough nerve ,a good torch and a healthy sense of adventure you could walk down the edges of the tunnel and come out in opposite the cinema. Happy days indeed.

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Hi jk1 I didn't know the tunnel that you speak of, but there was/is another one that used to scare the pants off me, that ran from somewhere near to the Radleys and ran under the Railway embankment from the Radleys side. When the stream was running slow you could straddle the stream and come out at the other end. Of course if we had known where we was we could have come around the corner and walked down the road. As we didn't, we had to suffer coming back down the tunnel. these days it's probable blocked off and full of Rats. SB

I have so many memories of the Ritz, Bordesley Green East. Met my Mrs at the ABC minors...

I think I only ever used the Ritz once in my life and that would be when I was about 12 years of age. Its a supermarket now isn't it?

Phil

I see parking on the pavement and having to be as near to the door as possible isn't an entirely moden act of selfish ignorance.

Volty

That was the official cinema car park.

Phil

So it is Phil.

I don't yet know in which past years the 18th of March was on a Friday, but it happens again this year.
Or is that a 13?

Posted by winkle

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I have so many memories of the Ritz, Bordesley Green East. Met my Mrs at the ABC minors...

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I remember The Ritz in the 1960's when it was a Bingo Hall. I saw a photo of it in the Amateur photographer Magazine. I had to go and have a look.
Written in five massive posters.

BNIGO

It was up for months.

So how much was the Pirze Mnoey?

I bet it was at least £5

Phil

I was born in Harborne (1939) and spent all my money in 'The Old Harborne' (The Picture House) and the Royalty. There were cinemas (and often two or three) in every district. We didn't go to the pictures to see the news, we went to be entertained. A three hour programme was the norm with the main feature and a b film, plus news, trailers and often a topical magazine such as 'This Modern Age'. All this for about 4p in the cheap seats. The Royalty (now still on Bingo) was an ABC house while the 'Old Harborne' (now still the village social club) was on the Gaumont circuit. Going to the pictures was an event. In most places you opened the doors to be greeted by what I now know was Jeyes fluid. It seems that in the silent days they sprayed it on the great unwashed British public. On weekends you queued for a long time as the shows were continuous (not separate as now) so folk went in at any point in the programme and sat through till it reached where they came in. Often folk would stay through again and no-one bothered. The Birmingham Mail carried a complete list of every cinema programme every night of the week. The trouble was almost all the ABC were showing the same programme as were Odeon and Gaumont cinemas, so choice was somewhat limited, though most programmes started Mon to Wed and Thurs to Sat with old films on Sunday for one day only. I went to the City cinemas on the odd occasion and to others you've mentioned. They were happy days indeed. (David Groves now living in Southend)

Here's one I don't think as been mentioned, I apologise if it has.
The Erdington Picture House, It was almost directly across the road from the Palace on the high street.

Posted by handlebar

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I was born in Harborne (1939) and spent all my money in 'The Old Harborne' (The Picture House) and the Royalty. There were cinemas (and often two or three) in every district. We didn't go to the pictures to see the news, we went to be entertained. A three hour programme was the norm with the main feature and a b film, plus news, trailers and often a topical magazine such as 'This Modern Age'. All this for about 4p in the cheap seats. The Royalty (now still on Bingo) was an ABC house while the 'Old Harborne' (now still the village social club) was on the Gaumont circuit. Going to the pictures was an event. In most places you opened the doors to be greeted by what I now know was Jeyes fluid. It seems that in the silent days they sprayed it on the great unwashed British public. On weekends you queued for a long time as the shows were continuous (not separate as now) so folk went in at any point in the programme and sat through till it reached where they came in. Often folk would stay through again and no-one bothered. The Birmingham Mail carried a complete list of every cinema programme every night of the week. The trouble was almost all the ABC were showing the same programme as were Odeon and Gaumont cinemas, so choice was somewhat limited, though most programmes started Mon to Wed and Thurs to Sat with old films on Sunday for one day only. I went to the City cinemas on the odd occasion and to others you've mentioned. They were happy days indeed. (David Groves now living in Southend)

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Hi David
Hope you like our forum please feel free to come back as often as you wish.
Our local Flea Pit was the Tivoli Yardley, demolished to make way for The Swan Shopping Centre. Which for many years was dirty filthy waste of space, recently demolished to make way for a new Tesco's developement. SB